Operation Volcano
by Mountain William
Summary: My twist on Graduation Day, in an AU where Buffy didn't come back from LA after Becoming 2. Rated for adult language and extreme angst only. Character death!
1. Dragon Flight

My first fanfic posted here.  My twist on "Graduation Day, Part 2".  A prequel to an AU story called "Slayer Lost" in which Buffy didn't return from LA after Becoming 2.  If you recognize the name or situation, it belongs to someone else, and I'm just borrowing!

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_Dragon Flight_

  
  


The pilot in the lead plane keyed his radio mike. 

"Dragon Flight leader to Dragon Flight.  Initial Point in 4 minutes.  Assume your bomb run positions."

Behind them, the lumbering C-17 Globemasters began spreading out into a two mile wide line.

"Jesus God, I still can't believe we're going to do this," the co-pilot muttered into his oxygen mask.

"Damn it, that's enough of that, Mark!" barked the pilot.  "You think I'm fucking enjoying this?  You know we're operating under direct National Command Authority here!  The President knows what he's doing!"  

"Yes, sir, Colonel, sir!" Mark parroted in his best Academy cadet voice.  "But, damn it, we're getting ready to wipe an entire town off the map!  An American town!"  He mumbled something incoherent to himself a moment.  "Hell's Bells, Chris, we're carrying enough tonnage to not just flatten that place, but to bounce the rubble a dozen times!"

A static-scratchy voice suddenly filled the earphones of the pilots.  "Dragon Flight, this is Samurai Two, your FAC.  I have you in visual."

"Samurai Two, this is Dragon Flight leader.  Roger, we read you.  Where's Samurai One?"

"Dead," replied the tired voice of the forward air controller.  "He didn't make it through the night."

"Is the girl still there?" 

"Yeah, she's here.  She's hurt bad, but she's been keeping the bastards off me."

"Do you have the target in sight?"

"Roger, Dragon Leader," he replied, managing not to sound sarcastic.  Like you could lose track of something the size of a small freight train?  The man on the ground carefully raised the laser designator, aimed it, and pulled the trigger.

"Target is painted, Dragon Leader."  As he waited for confirmation from the aircraft, he glanced down at the girl on the ground beside him.  She was about his daughter's age.  He wondered again at the strength she showed as she held her belly, curling in a tight ball against the pain, hiding the terrible wound she'd suffered protecting him the night before.  Why wasn't she dead?  Why weren't they both dead after last night? 

Behind the pilots, the navigator shouted.  "Target acquired!  Turn left two degrees to 178!"  

"Roger that!" the pilot said, banking the huge aircraft slightly.  "Loadmaster, open the ramp!  All aircraft, we are commencing bombing run!  Drop on my signal!"

Leveling off at their 24,000 foot altitude, the rear ramps of the giant cargo aircraft opened slowly, filling their cavernous bays with a 400 knot wind.  The bright California sunshine flooded into the cargo spaces, showing a line of eight Volkswagen-sized canisters strapped to air-droppable pallets in the cargo slides of each one.

"He's calling in a strike on his own position," muttered the co-pilot.  "I thought shit like that only happened in the movies."

"Their families lived there," replied the pilot, fighting the turbulence from the drag of the cargo doors opening.  "Rather, they 'used' to live there.  They didn't make it out of the high school.  The FAC's dropped in ahead of the first airborne assault.  The one the demon tore out of the sky."

"The demon.  Jesus.  Are we really having this conversation?"  Glancing out of the side window at the town coming up below them, he asked," How many people are left down there, Colonel?" 

"No one knows, Mark."  The commander's voice was soft now, introspective.  "The girl finally convinced the boss that nothing short of this was going to work.  Said it took a volcanic eruption to kill the last one.  Her homemade one didn't do the trick.  You know what happened next."  The images of the shattered and burned hulks of the attack copters were all over CNN.  So many good men.  "Be glad the boss decided against the nuke she wanted."  

The bomb run clock timed out.  0530.  He calmly pressed the button to signal the Loadmaster and then stared straight out the windscreen ahead of him.  Behind his issue sunglasses, his eyes blinked rapidly, fighting the tears no one but his wife would ever see.  God would understand, wouldn't He?

In the cargo bay, the loadmaster watched the drogue chute pop open, dragging the first 15,000 pound Daisy Cutter bomb off the ramp and out into the air stream.  He clicked his stopwatch, glancing at the airspeed indicator beside him.  Timing was critical for the pattern of the ten aircraft drop.  Eighty of the largest non-nuclear bombs in the world.  He crossed himself and prayed again that they were high enough.

At the ruins of Sunnydale High, the FAC saw the first chutes deploy and wearily laid down the laser designator.  He slid down beside the girl, gathering her into his arms, smoothing her hair and murmuring to her reassuringly as she whimpered only slightly at what must have been horrendous pain.

"Almost over, Faith."     


	2. Dragon Dreams

My first fanfic posted here.  My twist on "Graduation Day, Part 2", and the second chapter of "Operation Volcano".  A prequel to an AU story called "Slayer Lost" in which Buffy didn't return from LA after Becoming 2.  If you recognize the name or situation, it belongs to someone else, and I'm just borrowing!

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_Dragon Dreams_

She was sleeping face down, head buried in her pillow, so her screams only woke her and not the rest of the floor.

She pulled herself up, shoving back the twisted, sweat-soaked top sheet and swinging her legs over the side of the bed to dangle over the gray carpet as she cupped her face in her hands, trying to banish the remnants of the dream.

_Fuck!_

_They told me the drugs would stop this shit!  They haven't even slowed it down!_

When she thought she could stand without falling, she hopped off the bed and walked slowly over to the sink, twisting the cold water faucet to full and holding her hands under the flow, letting the chill wash over her wrists, hoping to wake herself fully.

She raised her face to the mirror, studying herself dispassionately for a moment.

_Damn, look like hell, don't you, Julie?  You could pack for a world-wide cruise with those bags, baby.  You look 66, not 16._

She scrubbed at her face with her wet hands, rubbing away the rest of the tears staining her cheeks. 

_God, the doc's gonna tear me up when I tell him still I'm not getting the sleep he says I need!  They're gonna keep me here forever!  Yeah, it sounds easy…simple.  Just got to sleep, and take my meds, and eat properly, and be a good girl, and be a fucking freak the rest of my life! _

She shuddered, arms wrapped around herself, trying to get the proverbial grip, mind detached and watching her, grinning evilly at the show.

_Pathetic little girl, aren't you?  Why not just blow your brains out and end it for good?  You almost did two years ago, even tasted the barrel before you chickened out!  No one will miss one more twisted crazy – the world's full of people like you!_

"No!" she moaned, barely out loud.  She raised her head, letting her arms drop limply to her sides, studying herself in the mirror again.  

_I'm not crazy!  I have a disorder!  I'm bipolar!  I'm different, but it can be controlled!_

She brushed her light brown hair back from her pale face, taking a deep breath.

_Your hair was dark in the dream, her mind whispered.  Almost black, like the horrors lurking in the shadows.  Like the blackness in your heart._

"No", she whimpered, clutching the wash basin tightly.  "That wasn't me!  I'm a good girl!"

_Right!  Of course!  The good little girl who gave two cops the fight of their lives when they arrested you?  The one that scared your father half to death?  That made your mother cry?_

"That's not me!  I don't do things like that!" she whispered to the empty room, tears welling in her eyes again.

_But you did!  Everyone says you did!  _

"But I didn't mean it!  It was a dream!"  

They had been so real, so vivid; they hadn't even seemed like dreams, at first.  She had been there, felt the loneliness, the terror, the aching desperation, all of them growing nightly.  No one could help her; she was alone, as always, as she was meant to be.  Watching the demon growing in power.  Knowing what he planned.  She had to do something, to stop it, to keep it from happening.  He was going to destroy the town, her town, kill all the people, and grow stronger. 

The dreams had tortured her for almost six weeks.  They'd grown in intensity every night, until she dreaded even lying down to sleep, would do anything to postpone the nightly horror.  She'd almost stopped eating, had lost 15 pounds from her already spare frame.  She was barely managing to sleep two hours a night, fending it off until the exhaustion finally overwhelmed her in the hours just before dawn.

_Mom thought I was getting anorexic, I know.  She kept making all my favorite stuff, trying to get me to eat, and I'd just pick at it.  I know she knew I was smoking, again.  How could she miss it?  My clothes and my room must've stunk to high heaven, no matter how careful I was!  She didn't say anything, really didn't even say much about all the coffee I was swilling down, but I know she was worried.  Especially when I brought home such shitty grades at midterm._

_How could I tell her I was terrified of my dreams?  How could I tell her I was afraid to sleep?  That I knew I was going to die if I did?_

And then, two nights before, at 3 am, she'd really lost it.  Overwhelmed in her dream, terrified beyond sanity, she'd risen from her bed and called 911.  Told them lightening was going to strike the school.  To destroy him, to stop him.  She'd heard the tape when they'd played it for her and her lawyer at the detention center.  She hadn't even recognized her own voice in that pathetically wailing scream.

Taking a deep breath, she stood up straight, staring at herself in the mirror once more.

"Enough, girl!" she told herself.  "This crap's getting you nowhere, fast!"

Grabbing her robe, she slipped it on, and then picked up her toiletry bag.  At 5:30 am there was bound to be plenty of hot water for a nice, long shower.  And no one else in the Adult Unit ever got up this early.  She could be the first one to the day room and get some real coffee, not that decaffeinated shit, even taking her time.  

Have the TV to herself, too, see what CNN was saying about what was going on in Sunnydale, California, with all that weird shit about a demon snake eating the town.

Her screams as the fire washed over her did wake the whole floor.

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_A/N – "Bipolar disorder", what was once called "manic/depressive illness", is more than just a plot device.  It is a serious mental disorder, affecting millions of people worldwide.  Though no one is completely certain of its causes, it is known to usually begin at puberty and seems to be centered in the limbic portion of the brain, where emotions and sleep are regulated.  It can cause extreme mood swings, and, in the worst cases, can be mistaken for schizophrenia.  The sad fact is that teens afflicted with it commit suicide at twice the normal rate for their age group.  If you suspect that you or someone you know might have this disorder, please seek professional medical help or talk to your school counselor.  The more severe symptoms of the disorder can be controlled with medication and counseling.  The best website I know of for this is:  http://www.pendulum.org_


	3. Dragon Rumbles

My first fanfic posted here.  My twist on "Graduation Day, Part 2", and the third chapter of "Operation Volcano".  A prequel to an AU story called "Slayer Lost" in which Buffy didn't return from LA after Becoming 2.  If you recognize the name or situation, it belongs to someone else, and I'm just borrowing!  Don't sue me - as all you'll get is a bunch of spoiled cats!  :D

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_Dragon Rumbles_

Julie walked slowly down the side hall, head down, eyes on her lace less Nikes.  _I should have just gone barefoot, she thought absently.  __Except I need a pedicure bad, and they won't let me have clippers.  And no matter how nice the nurses are when I ask them for something, I'd feel like a baby if one of them had to clip them for me.  Need to remember to ask Mom when she comes today.  She pulled a stringy lock of hair around in front of her face, rubbing it between her long fingers.  __Get her to help me shampoo, too, she thought ruefully.  __Do__ something with this mess before rats start nesting.  So not liking the "Girl, Interrupted" look here!  _

She sighed softly to herself.  _I really shouldn't mind, considering, but it just sucks that I'm not even allowed to bathe without someone watching me now.  _

She rounded the corner at the end of the hall and entered the shorter hall that led to the reception area.  She glanced out the windows that lined this hall on one wall, noticing the first pink glow of dawn lighting the east.  She stopped a moment, leaning her forehead against the cool glass, letting her eyes drink in the sight of the trees on the hill behind the building.  There was a little ground mist around them, starting at the edge of the lawn and wreathing each dark trunk.  She loved the way it swirled slightly in the gentle breeze, its colors changing in the growing light.

"Beautiful, isn't it, hon?"

Julie straightened up and glanced over her shoulder at Marie, the duty nurse.  She wasn't surprised to see her there.  All the night nurses knew she liked to wander the halls early in the morning.  They kept an eye out for her, on her doctor's orders.

"Yeah, Marie.  Sure wish I could go out and watch the sunrise from the lawn."

Marie smiled gently down at the tiny girl.  She knew her confinement to indoors was what irked her most about her stay here.  "I know, dear.  It won't be much longer, I'm sure.  You've been doing much better this past week."  She nervously fingered the cross on the chain around her neck.  "But you'd have to wait until the sun was up a little more, anyway."  She put a warm, encouraging hand on Julie's shoulder.  "How'd you sleep last night?"

Julie sighed, again, not as softly, making Marie grin.  The girl had expected the question.  She heard it all the time.  

"I slept four hours, woke up half an hour ago, couldn't get back to sleep, decided to walk," she reported in a teen-petulant, monotone mumble. 

"Any more dreams?"  Marie asked, cringing inwardly a little as the girl shrugged her hand off her shoulder at the question and turned to stare up at her defiantly, fists clenched at her sides.

"I always dream, you know that!" she half shouted.  "But if you mean was I fighting monsters in my sleep and getting burned alive again, the answer's no!"  

Julie squeezed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath, visibly willing herself to be calm.  Marie didn't deserve this.  And she had to learn to control these sudden rages or she'd never get out of here, period, much less be allowed to go outside on the grounds any time soon.

"Sorry," she mumbled, hands unclenching and coming up to rub her face.  "Don't know why I'm being such a bitch this morning."

Marie relaxed, just a little, as the girl got hold of herself.  She might be tiny, and still somewhat malnourished from the long hyper manic episode that had brought her here to the hospital, but Marie would never forget that it had taken three orderlies, big men all, to subdue this sixteen year old girl less than a week before, when she'd had what she had taken to calling her dragon dream.  And one of them was still off work with two broken fingers and some cracked ribs.

"Come on, Julie.  There's fresh coffee in the day room, and I'll even sneak a cigarette with you, if you want.  We can watch the sunrise from the smoking room."

"Sure, Marie, I'd like that."  The two turned and started down the hall.  "But I'll have to bum a smoke from you, if that's OK…  I'm out and Mom won't bring me more than a pack a day."  The teen grinned ruefully, almost shuffling her feet on the carpet.  "She wants me to quit again.  Been sorta nagging me about it."

"Well, you should quit, hon.  We all should.  Smoking's a nasty habit.  But all at once, with everything else happening now?  Not a good idea, I'm thinking, dear.  But don't you dare tell the doctors I told you that!  Or your mom!"  She mock-glared at the younger woman.

Julie giggled and traced an x over her heart with one finger.  "Scout's honor!"

As they reached the unit's central area, Julie continued to the brightly lit day room and the coffee pot as Marie went to the open counter along the near wall that served as the nurses' station to fetch her cigarettes.  Suddenly, one of four red lights on a panel high on the far wall opposite the station started flashing, accompanied by a soft, but strident, electronic chime.

Startled, Marie glanced up.  "Shit!  The kid's unit!"  She grabbed her key ring instead of her cigarettes and trotted to the door.  "Help yourself, Julie!  Gotta run!" she yelled across to the teen, who had been pouring her coffee, but was now looking around, puzzled.  The nurse unlocked the re-enforced glass outside door, letting herself out, and then ran down the sidewalk out of sight.

Julie sighed again, then walked over to the nurses' station, found Marie's cigarettes and lighter and took them with her to the smoking room, an elevated wooden deck off the day room, open but for a decorative steel lattice and a peaked roof with a large exhaust fan.  _Can't have any crazies offing themselves by a three story jump, can they?  She sat down in one of the wrought iron patio chairs, then fumbled out one of Marie's cigarettes and lit it with slightly shaking hands._

_Damn, she thought as she took a calming drag on her cigarette.  __I was ready for some company, now I'm stuck here alone in my head again.  And I like Marie, she tells me straight out what I need to hear.  Doesn't dress it up in platitudes, doesn't talk down to me, like those pricks in group do.  She blew out a cloud and watched it being drawn up to the fan, even though it wasn't on.  Then she leaned back to watch the sunrise over the trees around the hospital. _

_Been here, what, nine days now?  Not even sure of that.  Fuckin' drugs got your head so messed up, probably a good thing they don't let you go outside, girl!  You'd get lost in a minute and be dead meat for the next perv or vamp that happened by!  She ran one hand through her oily, lank hair again, slouching lower in the chair.  __With the ick factor you got going, you'd probably be safe from either, though!_

_Funny thing, she thought.  __Two weeks ago, if I'd have told people I was dreaming about killing vampires, I'd have been locked up here anyway.  Now every kid, and most adults, in the world are having nightmares about them, not just me.  Suddenly, every kid's monster under the bed is on CNN, live and in color._

She blew another cloud of smoke towards the fan.

_Too weird.  Hate to even watch TV any more, even if that's about all I can do.  They just keep repeating the same shit, over and over.  When're they going to find out something new?  When's the new Slayer, or whatever the hell they call her, going to come forward.  That girl Faith is gone…toasted like in my dream.  Took the bastard demon with her, though.  _

Her hand gripped the edge of the wrought iron table in front of her.  She didn't even notice as the metal bent beneath her fingers.  


End file.
